It has a string of five-star reviews on TripAdvisor and a fast-growing client list for birthday parties, get-togethers and corporate away days.

Teesside University graduates Graham Huntley and Nick Rodgers started the business with just one room at premises on the town’s Victoria Road - and soon brought in Matthew Collins, who had set up an escape room in his house.

Now they’re renovating the top-floor offices of the shopping centre, at Linthorpe Mews, which have enough space to expand to five escape rooms.

Nick Rodgers, Matthew Collins, and Graham Huntley (Image: Katie Lunn)

Graham, 32, said: “We have up to six people in a themed room and a storyline, you have to solve puzzles to get out of that room - it’s a bit like the Crystal Maze.

“It varies from physical to mental skill, we’ve had children from as young as five right the way up to grandparents

One game called Elementary is based on Sherlock Holmes and allows the user to “step back into Victorian times”, Graham added. “The feedback has been fantastic, he said - we don’t give much away because we like to give people that wow factor when they walk in.